*1885 [[Church of Constantinople]] recognizes [[autocephaly]] of [[Church of Romania]]; [[w:Revised Version|English Revised Version]] published; [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] officially removes all of [[Apocrypha]] from [[w:Authorized King James Version|King James Bible]].

*1885 [[Church of Constantinople]] recognizes [[autocephaly]] of [[Church of Romania]]; [[w:Revised Version|English Revised Version]] published; [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] officially removes all of [[Apocrypha]] from [[w:Authorized King James Version|King James Bible]].

*1886 [[w:Church of Maria Magdalene|Church of Maria Magdalene]] built on slope of Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem by Tsar Alexander III.

*1886 [[w:Church of Maria Magdalene|Church of Maria Magdalene]] built on slope of Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem by Tsar Alexander III.

+

*1888 ''[[Typikon]] of the Great Church of Christ'' is published with revised church services, prepared by Protopsaltis George Violakis, issued with the approval and blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch, while the ''Sabaite (monastic) [[Typikon]]'' continues to be used in Russia.

*1889 Federation of [[w:Old Catholic Church|Old Catholic Churches]], not in communion with Rome, at the [[w:Utrecht Union|Union of Utrecht]].

*1889 Federation of [[w:Old Catholic Church|Old Catholic Churches]], not in communion with Rome, at the [[w:Utrecht Union|Union of Utrecht]].

*ca. 1890 ''[[Unseen Warfare]]'' further revised by [[Theophan the Recluse]].

*ca. 1890 ''[[Unseen Warfare]]'' further revised by [[Theophan the Recluse]].

The History of the Church is a vital part of the Orthodox Christian faith. Orthodox Christians are defined significantly by their continuity with all those who have gone before, those who first received and preached the truth of Jesus Christ to the world, those who helped to formulate the expression and worship of our faith, and those who continue to move forward in the unchanging yet ever-dynamic Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church.

1839 Synod of Polotsk abolishes Union of Brest-Litovsk in all areas under Russian rule as Greek Catholic dioceses in Lithuania and Belarus re-enter the Orthodox Church (with the exception of the eparchy of Chelm, in Polish territory, which was itself integrated into the Russian Orthodox Church in 1875).

1851 Translation into English of Septuagint by Lancelot C. L. Brenton; Ottoman Empire recognizes France as supreme Christian authority in Holy Land and grants it possession of the Church of the Nativity.

1853-56 Crimean War fought between Russia and the Ottoman Empire together with Britain and France, beginning over which church would be recognized as the "sovereign authority" of the Christian faith in the Holy Land.

1870 Papal Infallibility declared Roman Catholic dogma necessary for salvation by First Vatican Council; Papal States cease to exist; Old Catholic schism occurs; Old Catholics openly courted by Russian church in France and Germany.

1886 Church of Maria Magdalene built on slope of Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem by Tsar Alexander III.

1888 Typikon of the Great Church of Christ is published with revised church services, prepared by Protopsaltis George Violakis, issued with the approval and blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch, while the Sabaite (monastic) Typikon continues to be used in Russia.

1905 Death of Apostolos Makrakis; Tsar Nicholas Romanov's decree on freedom of religion results in about 250,000 Ruthenians returning to Uniatism; seat of Russian Orthodox bishop in America moved from San Francisco to New York, as immigration from Eastern Europe and the reception of ex-Uniates shifts the balance of Orthodox population to eastern North America.

1907 Archim. Eusebius Matthopoulos founds Zoe Brotherhood; Papal Bull Ea Semper issued, effectively subordinating Greek Catholic clergy in the United States to local Roman Catholic bishops; Commission on Anglican and Old Catholic Affairs of Russian synod reports in favor of adaptation of services from Book of Common Prayer and sets out criteria.

1908 Fr. Nikodemos Sarikas sent to Johannesburg, Transvaal, by Ecumenical Patriarchate as first Orthodox priest there, leaving after a short time for German East Africa (later Tanzania) because of the opposition of Johannesburg Greeks to mission among Africans.

Notes

Some of these dates are necessarily a bit vague, as records for some periods are particularly difficult to piece together accurately.

The division of Church History into separate eras as done here will always be to some extent arbitrary, though it was attempted to group periods according to major watershed events.

This timeline is necessarily biased toward the history of the Orthodox Church, though a number of non-Orthodox or purely political events are mentioned for their importance in history related to Orthodoxy or for reference.